Determination of Trace Amounts of Oxygen in Protective Gaseous Ambients

In the fabrication and processing of electronic components, it is often necessary to use neutral or reducing protective atmospheres for various heat treating operations. Such operations as encapsulation, cleaning, brazing, glazing, surface oxide reduction and degassing of components all require the use of protective atmospheres in which oxidizing impurities must either be minimized or precisely controlled for optimum results. The presence of water or oxygen or both in amounts as small as a few parts per million can often profoundly affect the results of these operations. A variety of techniques has been reported for analysis of either of these impurities. A simple technique whereby a single instrument may be used to analyze for both of these constituents is described here.